Mike Halmo | Winger

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Mike Halmo has agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Islanders.

Halmo had a goal and 32 penalty minutes in 20 games with the Islanders in 2014-15. He might be able to play more regularly with New York next season, but it we don't think it will be as more than a bottom-six forward. Jul 15 - 12:11 AM

"It took a few minutes afterward, sitting on the bench to sink in. Then I heard it, through the speakers," Halmo said. Halmo was playing in his 13th career game. He's been serving primarily as a bottom-six forward and we wouldn't count on him moving beyond that role in 2014-15, if he makes the team at all. Wed, Apr 2, 2014 09:22:00 AM

Mike Halmo was one of three players called up by the New York Islanders Monday.

A spate of injuries to the Isles' forward group has necessitated reinforcements. Don't expect Halmo to take on a major role with the big club this season as his AHL numbers have been mediocre to-date. Mon, Feb 24, 2014 08:16:00 PM

Mike Halmo received a 10-game suspension for hitting Nail Yakupov in the head during an OHL game.

It was decided that Yakupov would miss what little was left of the regular season as a result. Yakupov might be selected with the first overall pick in the 2012 NHL entry draft. Halmo is an Islanders' prospect that recently signed an entry-level deal. Fri, Mar 16, 2012 04:16:00 PM

Depth Charts

The Islanders captain finished second in the NHL scoring race with 86 points in 82 games. That point total was a career-high and he set a personal best with 38 goals in 2014-15 as well. This is his second nomination for the Hart Trophy in the past three years.

Mikhail Grabovski will join Team Belarus for the 2015 World Championships.

It's an opportunity for Grabovski to get in a bit more ice time after missing more than two months due to a concussion. He returned from the injury on April 23 and ended up playing in three games before the Islanders were eliminated. This was a rough season for him beyond the concussion as he was limited to just nine goals and 19 points in 51 contests.

Frans Nielsen scored his first goal of the playoffs in the New York Islanders' series-losing, 2-1 loss to the Capitals in Washington Monday night.

The Isles disappointed themselves with only 11 shots on goal in this one. The anemic offense paved the way for the Caps to prevail and take the Eastern Conference First Round Series in the maximum seven games. Despite the dearth of offense in the game that mattered most, Nielsen gave the Isles a chance after he took a pass from Thomas Hickey and let go a soft wrist shot that found its way between Washington goalie Braden Holtby's skates to make it 1-1 in the third period. The Caps would win this game, though, on a goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov with 7:18 remaining in regulation time.

Casey Cizikas scored the only goal for the New York Islanders Tuesday night in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Capitals.

The Isles struggled mightily to solve Washington netminder Braden Holtby as the team's top two lines failed to generate any markers. Cal Clutterbuck and Nick Leddy drew helpers on the lone New York goal in the losing effort.

Michael Grabner is on the trade block, according to Newsday’s Arthur Staple.

In fact, Staple says the Islanders are "actively shopping" the 27-year-old winger. After scoring 34 and 20 goals, respectively, in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Grabner has a total of 36 goals over the past three seasons. He had eight goals and 13 points in 34 games in 2014-15 and recently had a second sports hernia surgery. He is due to make $5 million, with a $3 million cap hit, in the last season of his contract.

The New York Islanders have yet to re-sign restricted free agent Brock Nelson.

Nelson earned $1.925 million last season and had 20 goals and 42 points in 82 contests. Nelson got off to a hot start with 19 points in his first 20 games but then regressed to normal numbers as he had nine, eight and six points respectively in his final three quarters of the season. Look for a 30-35 point season in 2015-16 for the winger.

Matt Martin is in the lineup for Game 1 Wednesday night versus the Washington Capitals.

Martin was held out of the last three Islanders games due to an undisclosed injury but was able to practice Monday and Tuesday and is now ok to play in Game 1. Martin brings lots of size and physicality with 114 penalty minutes to the Islanders and was even able to notch eight goals and six assists in 78 games played this season.

There was not a lot of trade talk involving Kyle Okposo at the 2015 Draft.

Okposo remained an Islander and the word is that he is seeking a long-term, big salary contract with one year remaining before free agency. The 27-year-old had 51 points in 60 games this season and will earn $4.5 million in the upcoming season. Contract extension talks should be ongoing but the Islanders could still deal him if the talks prove to be stalling or non-existent.

Josh Bailey's second goal of the playoffs was the only bright spot for the Isles on Thursday in Game 5, as Washington easily beat New York 5-1 to take a 3-2 series lead.

Bailey is having a strong post-season so far with five points in as many games. The 25-year-old had 41 points in 60 games during the regular season, and has eight points in 10 playoff games dating back to last year.

Although the Islanders were one of the worst shorthanded teams for most of the season, they finished on a strong note.

The Islanders killed 39 of their final 42 penalties over their final 18 games. "It's not much difference," Nikolay Kulemin said. "Doing what we've been doing, maybe doing it a little bit better. We try to be a little more active. But we try that all year. It's just working now." The Islanders need to hope it keeps working because their first round opponent, the Washington Capitals, has the best power play in the league.

For Clutterbuck, that was his first assist and second point of the playoffs. He had seven goals and 16 points in 76 regular season contests. The defeat evened the first round series between the Islanders and Capitals at 2-2.

Johnny Boychuk is getting ready for his eighth career Game 7 on Monday.

The core of the Islanders is still somewhat thin on playoff experience, so Boychuk's presence is particularly helpful in this regard. He's been averaging 26:01 minutes per contest in the first round, but he'll probably end up topping that mark in the deciding game of New York's series against Washington.

The defenseman is now on a four game points streak as he has five assists in six games for New York. The Islanders made a great pickup when they dealt for the 24-year-old rearguard prior to the start of the season. He had 10 goals and 37 points with a plus-18 rating during the regular season.

New York Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic revealed Tuesday that a torn left knee ligament forced him to miss the team's first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals.

Hamonic disclosed the nature of the injury while cleaning out his locker Tuesday, a day after the Islanders were eliminated in a 2-1 loss in Game 7. The injury did not require surgery. Hamonic was hurt in a 3-1 win at Pittsburgh, in the second-last game of the regular season. Defenseman Calvin de Haan also revealed he missed the final two games against the Capitals after spraining his left shoulder in Game 5.

Calvin De Haan revealed that his shoulder injury was a sprained AC joint.

De Haan missed the final two games of the Islanders' first round series against the Washington Capitals as a result. He was hoping to participate in the second round of the players, but the Islanders were eliminated. That means he should be fine for the start of the 2015-16 campaign though.

Ryan Pulock might make his NHL debut in Game 6 of the Islanders' series against Washington on Saturday.

It's not an ideal time to put Pulock in his first game, but Calvin De Haan is now injured in addition to Lubomir Visnovsky. With the Islanders' defense depleted, they need all the help they can get. Pulock was taken with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He had 17 goals and 29 points in 54 contests with the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2014-15.

Scott Mayfield made his NHL debut in the Islanders' 4-0 loss on Sunday.

Mayfield was the 12th rookie to play for the Islanders in 2013-14. He had two shots on goal and four hits in 17:04 minutes of ice time. "He was going to get a chance here as we moved forward," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "There were some turnovers, to be expected in your first game. But I thought he handled himself well."

Goalie Jaroslav Halak ended a first-rate season Monday night with 24 saves for the New York Islanders.

But the Islanders could only muster up 11 shots on Washington goalie Braden Holtby and, in the seventh and deciding game of this Eastern Conference First Round series, the Capitals prevailed, 2-1. It wasn't Halak's fault at all. He made several top-notch saves but the Isles couldn't get anything going offensively before the goalie gave up the game-winning goal to Evgeny Kuznetsov with 7:18 remaining in the third period. Halak entered Monday's game with a 4-0 record and a .977 save percentage when facing elimination against the Capitals. He also was 2-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .963 save percentage in Game 7s. But all that is history now. Halak finished the series with a record of 3-4, a GAA of 2.30 and a save percentage of .926. Halak, in reality, deserved a better fate.